The China Teaching Web
Click Here to Subsribe to the 'The Vance Report' Feed
IOC Finally Takes Action on Olympic Gymnastics Age Scandal
Posted in The Vance Report on 08/23/2008 09:01 am
I am not going to allow myself to wonder why the IOC (International Olympic Committee) waited until three days before the end of the Olympics to fully address the Chinese gymnastic age scandal. I am not going to even dwell on the fact that the ID’s and birth certificates that China provided to the IOC last night could easily have been modified or reissued. I am just happy to see that the IOC took action.
On Friday, the IOC finally stood up to China and asked the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) to investigate the ages of certain members of China’s women gymnastics team. Even before the Olympics began, there was evidence that He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Yang Yilin did not meet the minimum age requirement to compete in the Olympics. Rules dictate that Olympic gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age to participate. In the last week, more evidence has been recovered including online documents from Chinese media sites which indicated that some of the team members were less than 16 years of age. In addition, some Chinese people have told me here that CCTV, China’s state owned television operation, had admitted as late as last week that these girls were 14 years of age.
According to reports, China did provide the FIG with additional documents last night that pertain to He Kexing including er ID, passport and birth certificate. The FIG has indicated that the birth dates on these documents meet the minimum age requirement.
Of course, it is unlikely that the FIG will uncover anything before Sunday night. The only way for them to find solid proof of age violations would be to ’sniff’ around the girls’ hometown. The Chinese would certainly not welcome this kind of investigation.
At least the IOC finally took a stand, even if it is too late. It was about time that someone made it clear to China that just because it is hosting the Olympics does not mean that it is exempt from scrutiny. The Chinese government and Team China must be held accountable just like any other country. I congratulate the IOC for making the right decision and I hope that the investigation will be allowed to take place without any interference from the Chinese government.
Other Recent Posts in The Vance Report
Don't miss...
- Why the Olympic Games Are Not About China After Tonight
- Please Do Not Be Lonely on Christmas in China
- How to Give a Speech in China
- So Many Beggars in China
- What China’s Communist Party Can Teach Barak Obama
- What You Should Know About Traveling By Motorcycle in China
- Will Kids be Banned from the Olympic Games?
08/23/2008 at 1:26 pm
[...] IOC Finally Takes Action on Olympic Gymnastics Age Scandal [...]
08/23/2008 at 6:00 pm
According to my Chinese girlfriend, it is very common practice that parents used to change the age of their children, to get them into school before they are allowed normally. If a parent without any connections can already do this, what about a government-backed sports association. Of course it’s trivial for them to change the age. It happens all the time in China.
08/24/2008 at 12:51 am
Americans are just plain sore losers jsut because they cannot perform well. We can see many gymnasts that goofed up but still did well after but not the good old US of A. Instead they play the blame game. Officials, age, etc.
BE TRUE SPORTS PEOPLE and submit to defeat and not WHINE about it like BABIES! TSK! TSK!
Nothing China does is acceptable but US can do anything they damn well want. Talk about human rights and all other rights. Perhaps US should look at their own record of human rights going back in history before commenting on other sovereign states. Pot calling the kettle black!
08/27/2008 at 3:13 am
How can you state the “pot calling the kettle black” when that is what you are doing yourself. Save us the whining and complaining act! Gymnastics is a subjective sport which in essence will always have a sense of debate. You can not watch some of the performances and tell me that the judges are not affected by crowd response or any other extraneous factor. Yet I will admit the Chinese team WON the team gold because they performed better as a team. Yes they were better (regardless of age). However, being a true sports “person” ALWAYS entails playing by the rules despite the outcome. Therefore if there is any wrong doing I suggest that you take a dose of your own medicine. Babies might whine but they shouldn’t do gymnastics. That is simply the rules… take it or leave it. Please think before you write!
08/27/2008 at 10:08 am
All this mud slinging does no one any good. The fact of the matter is this…When you cheat at something even the Olympics and win something as a result, you are not a winner at all. You havn’t earned the win so you are still a loser.
08/29/2008 at 6:09 am
I agree with both Earnie and US. Cheating is cheating. If any other olympian/country was caught cheating, noone would hesitate to call them out on it. So why is it such an issue that the IOC investigate. If they are the ages they need to be according to the rules set, then congratulations to China. As for those who are truly sore loser, then they’ll have to be that and suck it up. Now, if China did cheat, then shame on them and well everyone is familiar with karma.
08/29/2008 at 9:53 am
@Seriously,
The IOC did ‘launch’ and ‘investigation’ three days before the Olympics came to an end. By then, it was too little too late. It was pretty clear that their ‘investigation’ was a half-hearted attempt to appease the rest of the world but no one really knows what the ‘investigation’ consisted of. The fact is, the IOC let China get away with this in 2000 (Sydney Olympics) so I guess there was little reason to hope that the IOC would do anything seriously about it this year. But still, I agree with you…cheating is cheating and the IOC has shown how ‘puny’ and powerless it is by allowing these kinds of antics to go on…
09/24/2008 at 5:49 pm
the Chinese had to cheat in order to win some of their gold medals. But the truth will set you free!American athletes are the best in the world.So China quit your complaining!